The Help
"The Help" is the sixth episode from Season 5 of Modern Family, it aired on October 23, 2013. Plot Summary When Gloria hires a too-good-to-be-true male nanny, Jay and Manny are pretty much dead set against it. Frank is in town and feeling a bit lonely recently, so Phil and Jay take him out to help get his groove back. And Mitch and Cam commission Pepper to plan their dream wedding, but Pepper might be dreaming a little too big. Episode Description Phil and Claire are worried about Phil's dad, Frank. His wife had passed away, and the woman he was seeing down in Florida dumped him, so he was feeling a bit depressed. Phil invited him to visit, which of course meant Alex and Haley had to share the same room. (It's as loud as it sounds). But Frank was most certainly depressed; he didn't even want to play "pull my finger" with Luke. Gloria and Jay have had problems trying to keep a nanny for Joseph. They've gone through five already. Although in fairness to Gloria, not all of them were her fault. Manny might have tried to get friendly with a few of them. (JAY: There's an embarrassing press conference in that kid's future.) Well, Gloria has a potential solution; she finds a manny at the playground. (MANNY: I'm being replaced?!?) Jay finds the whole situation too weird for his taste, particularly since the manny was like Mary Poppins on steroids. Gloria is outvoted 2-to-1, so naturally, the manny stays. Which Jay didn't know happened until he hands Jay a towel in the shower. And cooks breakfast for Manny and him. The flaxseed muffins were a bit much, so he had to be fired. Gloria was furious because she finally found a nanny she liked and she was the one who was around the house all the time and had to deal with him. But the manny played peacemaker...and quite well, in fact. He even showed Gloria when she yells at Jay and Manny, they tend to listen less. Yup, he had a job. Although the exercising as a family was a bit much. Mitchell and Cameron have decided to let Pepper Saltzman plan their wedding. He certainly had the experience; he had already planned 53 gay weddings (and only since Prop. 8 was overturned). The trouble is, after 53 weddings, it was difficult to come up with new ideas, particularly since Mitch and Cam had different ideas about the wedding. However, both agreed that purple was too much, as was riding in on a unicorn and looking like the casting office for Willy Wonka. However, Pepper's mood was a bit...intense...any time the guys questioned one of his ideas. It was certainly driving Ronaldo crazy. He was Pepper's assistant, who was having some problems getting his boss to accept his ideas, like raw linen tablecloths and modern rectangular tables at the reception. Ideas that Mitch and Cam were beginning to really like. But they couldn't betray Pepper like that. Well, maybe one more look at Ronaldo's portfolio. Jay decided to help Phil get his father to go out on the town. And it actually worked. He met a nice woman and had a pleasant conversation, although it did leave Jay and Phil stuck playing wingmen to the woman's not-so-nice friend. So they decide "this place is dead anyway" and take off. The next morning, Frank admits he had a great time, judging by the woman he brought home...a different one he met while waiting for a taxi. And he enjoyed himself; she performed like a pro. (You know where this is going, don't you). Yes, now Phil and Frank have to give Jeannie $500 before Claire gets back from her yoga class. Too late, though. Claire sees her...and Phil tells her she's the therapist she recommended Phil find for Frank. And this being a sitcom, Claire HAS to meet her. CLAIRE: Thank you so much for coming out and helping him this way. It was my idea. You know, I've never told anybody this, but I've always wanted to do what you do. I think I'd be really good at it. I basically do it for the whole neighborhood anyway; at least this way I get paid for it. Phil is hoping to shoo her out before anything else happens, but Haley's and Alex's continued fight and Jeannie can certainly sympathize because she used to fight with her sister. (CLAIRE: I'm at my wit's end with these two. Do you have any experience with teenagers?) Jeannie would always accuse her sister of trying to steal her boyfriends and her sister would always accuse Jeannie of trying to stab her. OK, maybe not the world's greatest therapist. Claire gets Phil and Frank alone and reads them the riot act. Claire wants Frank to just get back out there and not worry about being dumped. But Frank admitted he left his girlfriend because he didn't know how to act around other women. He thought he would be with his wife forever, and now he was lost. (FRANK: And last night, Jeannie was so nice...and professional.) Jeannie overheard that and thanked him, saying he had nothing to worry about when it came to dating...and other things Claire stopped her from talking about before it went too far. JEANNIE: You know, I love your kids. That Alex is like a little me. Ronaldo returns to Mitchell and Cameron's place, having left Pepper. He started showing them some designs for their wedding, which they naturally loved. Pepper then stops by, forcing Ronaldo to hide. Pepper was upset for being stabbed in the back and vowed to ruin the wedding of whoever was responsible for encouraging Ronaldo to leave. When Pepper finds Ronaldo there, he has a nervous breakdown. He had planned 53 gay weddings, and not a single one of them were for him. Ronaldo was upset for an even bigger reason; he was in love with Pepper and Pepper never even noticed. That's probably because Pepper was too obsesses with planning 53 gay weddings to notice Ronaldo was in love with him. Thankfully, they got it straightened out, and now they were back to planning the wedding. And arguing over every last little detail. Poor Lily couldn't get anybody to read her a story, her headphones wouldn't drown them out, it was time to take action! And she did. Main Cast (The characters striked out do not appear in this episode) * Jay Pritchett * Gloria Pritchett * Manny Delgado * Claire Dunphy * Phil Dunphy * Haley Dunphy * Alex Dunphy * Luke Dunphy * Mitchell Pritchett * Cameron Tucker * Lily Tucker-Pritchett Guest Starring *Nathan Lane as Pepper Saltzman *Fred Willard as Frank Dunphy *Adam DeVine as Andy Bailey *Peri Gilpin as Jeannie *Christian Barillas as Ronaldo *Gretchen German as Kathy *Renee Albert as Marcy *Catherine Christensen as Joan *Makeli Leonard as Little Girl Continuity *Frank Dunphy reappears ("Undeck the Halls", "Travels with Scout", "A Slight at the Opera", "The Wow Factor", "Goodnight Gracie"). *Pepper Saltzman reappears ("Earthquake", "Boys' Night", "A Slight at the Opera"). *It is revealed that Frank finally dated Annie from "Goodnight Gracie" after his wife passed away, but he broke up with her. *Claire mentions giving Haley a pack of condoms ("Schooled"). Trivia *The episode title refers to the needing of help of all the three families: the Pritchetts need a new nanny, the Pritchett-Tuckers need someone to plan their wedding, and the Dunphys want to cheer up Frank. *Claire went to Pole Dance classes. *This is Manny's 100th episode. *This is Andy's first appearance as well as Renaldo's first appearance. Lilly appears only in the tag of this episode. Cultural References *The episode title references the novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett. *Phil mentions Titanic. *Mitchell says that the purple hats that Pepper gave Cam and him are a little "Willy Wonka". *Jay is quoting Swingers when he says "This place is dead anyway". *When Andy is playing with the children in the park, he says "Welcome to King's Landing! I am the evil boy king and I want your heads!", referencing King Joffery Baratheon from the TV series Game of Thrones. 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